Soil microbial community and their functional genes during grassland restoration.

Soil microbial functional genes are linked with carbon (C) as well as nitrogen (N) cycling processes, and their relative abundances are strongly affected by ecosystem managements. Yet, soil microbial community compositions and their C, N cycling genes' abundance in temperate grasslands remain poorly studied. Here, the Illumina MiSeq sequencing (16 S rRNA gene and internal transcribed spacer [ITS]) and meta-genomic GeoChip sequencing technologies were used to explore the alterations of microbial compositions and functional genes in the topsoil (0-10 cm) following grassland restoration. Grassland restoration increased the relative abundances of the copiotrophs (such as Actinobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes), but reduced the oligotrophs (including Acidobacteria, Chloroflexi, Planctomycetes), suggesting that microorganisms shifted from oligotrophic to copiotrophic groups during grassland restoration. The changes in microbial eco-strategies were also supported by the meta-genomic GeoChip sequencing data. In the early restoration years, the microbial functional genes were dominant with recalcitrant C degradation (pgu, glx, lig, mnp), C fixation (accA, aclB, acsA, rbcL), N fixation (nifH), and nitrification (amoA, hao) related genes. In the later restoration years, the microbial functional genes were dominant with labile C degradation (amyA, amyX, apu, sga, abfA), and denitrification (nosZ, nirS, narG, napA) related genes. The changes in microbial functional genes were mainly related to soil biotic factors (microbial biomass C and N, as well as C- and N-acquiring enzymes). Finally, we made a framework illustrating the changes in microbial eco-strategies and soil C, N cycling processes. This is the first attempt to link microbial functional genes with microbial eco-strategies by incorporating soil microbial meta-genomic information during grassland restoration.

Divergent contribution of particulate and mineral-associated organic matter to soil carbon in grassland.

Sequestration of soil organic carbon (SOC) is an effective means to draw atmospheric CO2. Grassland restoration is one of the fastest methods to increase soil C stocks, and particulate-associated C and mineral-associated C play critical roles in soil C stocks during restoration. Herein, we developed a conceptual mechanistic frame regarding the contributions made by mineral-associated organic matter to soil C during the restoration of temperate grasslands. Compared to 1-year grassland restoration, 30-year restoration increased mineral-associated organic C (MAOC) by 41% and particulate organic C (POC) by 47%. The SOC changed from microbial MAOC predominance to plant-derived POC predominance, as the POC was more sensitive to grassland restoration. The POC increased with plant biomass (mainly litter and root biomass), while the increase in MAOC was mainly caused by the combined effects of increasing microbial necromass and leaching of the base cations (Ca-bound C). Plant biomass accounted for 75% of the increase in POC, whereas bacterial and fungal necromass contributed to 58% of the variance in MAOC. POC and MAOC contributed to 54% and 46% of the increase in SOC, respectively. Consequently, the accumulation of the fast (POC) and slow (MAOC) pools of organic matter are important for the sequestration of SOC during grassland restoration. Overall, simultaneous tracing of POC and MAOC helps further understand the mechanisms and predict soil C dynamics combined with the input of plant C, microbial properties, and availability of soil nutrients during grassland restoration.

[Follow-up and prognostic study of infants with positional plagiocephaly]. / å©´å„¿ä½“ä½æ€§æ–œå¤´å¼‚å¸¸çš„éšè®¿å’Œé¢„åŽç ”ç©¶.

OBJECTIVES: To study the effects of infantile positional plagiocephaly on the growth and neural development. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted on the medical data of 467 children who underwent craniographic examination and were followed up to 3 years of age in Peking University Third Hospital from June 2018 to May 2022. They were divided into four groups: mild positional plagiocephaly (n=108), moderate positional plagiocephaly (n=49), severe positional plagiocephaly (n=12), and normal cranial shape (n=298). The general information of the four groups and the weight, length, head circumference, visual acuity screening results, hearing test results, and the scores of Pediatric Neuropsychological Developmental Scales/Gesell Developmental Schedules of the four groups from 6 to 36 months old were compared. RESULTS: The rates of adverse perinatal factors, congenital muscular torticollis, and supine fixed sleeping posture in the mild, moderate, and severe positional plagiocephaly groups were higher than the normal cranial group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in weight, length, and head circumference among the four groups at 6, 12, 24 and 36 months of age (P>0.05). The incidence rate of abnormal vision in the severe positional plagiocephaly group was higher than that in the mild positional plagiocephaly, moderate positional plagiocephaly and normal cranial shape groups at 24 and 36 months of age (P<0.05). The scores of the Pediatric Neuropsychological Developmental Scales at 12 and 24 months of age and the scores of the Gesell Developmental Schedules at 36 months of age in the severe positional plagiocephaly group were lower than those in the mild positional plagiocephaly, moderate positional plagiocephaly and normal cranial shape groups, but the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Adverse perinatal factors, congenital muscular torticollis, and supine fixed sleeping position may be associated with infantile positional plagiocephaly. Mild or moderate positional plagiocephaly has no significant impact on the growth and neural development of children. Severe positional plagiocephaly have adverse effects on the visual acuity. However, it is not considered that severe positional plagiocephaly can affect the neurological development.

Association of perceived discrimination with the risk of depression among US older adults: A prospective population-based cohort study.

Aims: Association between perceived discrimination and depression has been demonstrated in some sources of discrimination, such as age, sex, and race. However, the effects of perceived discrimination both in any domain and each domain on development of depression are still unclear. We aimed to estimate the association of any and each domain of perceived discrimination with the risk of depression among US older adults. Methods: We did a population-based cohort study using eight waves (from 2006 to 2020) of data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a nationally representative study of US older adults aged 51 years and above. Perceived discrimination was measured by the shortened 5-item version of Williams' discrimination scale, including five domains (less courtesy, service setting, not smart, threatened or harassed, and medical setting). Depressive symptoms were assessed with shortened 8-item version of the Center for Epidemiological Depression scale (8-item CES-D). Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate the crude and adjusted hazards ratio (HRs) and their 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) between perceived discrimination and risk of depression, after controlling for potential confounders. Results: A total of 18502 participants were included in our final analyses. 42.8 % of them had any perceived discrimination at baseline, and the most prevalent perceived discrimination was feeling less courtesy, which was observed in 5893 people (31.6 %). During a median of 9.8 years follow-up, 44.7 % of participants developed depression. The risk of depression was 46 % (adjusted HR: 1.46, 95 % CI: 1.39-1.52) higher among people with perceived discrimination than those without. The associations between perceived discrimination in each domain and risk of depression were all prominent. Conclusions: Both any and each domain of perceived discrimination were associated with an increased risk of depression. Considering the high prevalence of perceived discrimination and the following poor health outcomes, our findings suggested the integrated measures of providing public education and diversified communication to reduce discrimination, as well as accessible emotional supports to prevent depression are urgently needed.

Soil stoichiometric imbalances constrain microbial-driven C and N dynamics in grassland.

Grassland restoration leads to excessive soils with carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents that are inadequate to fulfill the requirements of microorganisms. The differences in the stoichiometric ratios of these elements could limit the activity of microorganisms, which ultimately affects the microbial C, N use efficiencies (CUE, NUE) and the dynamics of soil C and N. The present study was aimed at quantifying the soil microbial nutrient limitation and exploring the mechanisms underlying microbial-induced C and N dynamics in chrono-sequence of restored grasslands. It was revealed that grassland restoration increased microbial C, N content, microbial C, N uptake, and microbial CUE and NUE, while the threshold elemental ratio (the C:N ratio) decreased, which is mainly due to the synergistic effect of the microbial biomass and enzymatic stoichiometry imbalance after grassland restoration. Finally, we present a framework for the nutrient limitation strategies that stoichiometric imbalances constrain microbial-driven C and N dynamics. These results are the direct evidence of causal relations between stoichiometric ratios, microbial responses, and soil C, N cycling.

Association of medicinal plant consumption with all-cause mortality and cognitive impairment in older adult: A large prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Panax ginseng and other medicinal plants have long been believed to have beneficial effects on health, and there is substantial evidence supporting their mechanisms of action. However, the extent of the health benefits derived from consuming these medicinal plants lacks substantial evidence from large-scale longitudinal population studies. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of consuming these medicinal plants on all-cause mortality and cognitive impairment. METHODS: A population-based cohort study was conducted using the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), which was established in 1998 and has been followed up till now. The main exposure was the frequency of eating medicinal plants, including Panax ginseng, Astragalus membranaceus, Lycium barbarum, Angelica sinensis, etc. According to the consumption patterns of medicinal plants, the participants were divided into three groups: frequent use, occasional use, and rarely or never use group. The participants were individually tracked to determine their mortality and cognitive impairment status during the period from 2008 to 2018. Cox proportional hazards regression and competing risk model were used to calculate the hazard ratio (HR) for the association between the use of medicinal plants and the all-cause mortality and cognitive impairment. RESULTS: Among 13,918 participants, the average age was 87.2 ± 11.3 years old, and 70.1% (9,754/13,918) of the participants died during follow-up. The proportion of those frequently using, occasionally using, and rarely using medicinal plants was 8.4%, 20.7%, and 70.8%, respectively. Compared with the rarely or never use group, the occasional and frequent use groups demonstrated significantly lower risks for all-cause mortality, with HR of 0.75 (95% CI: 0.71 - 0.79) and 0.53 (95% CI: 0.49 - 0.58), respectively. The protective effect of medicinal plants against all-cause mortality decreased with increasing age in the subgroup analysis. Additionally, frequent use of medicinal plants reduced the risk of cognitive impairment in the competing risk model (HR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.60 - 0.87). However, there was no protective effect on cognitive function for those who occasional use medicinal plants. CONCLUSION: In elderly individuals, occasional and frequent use of medicinal plants was associated with reductions in risk of all-cause mortality, and frequent use of medicinal plants could reduce the risk of cognitive impairment.

Association of Drinking Herbal Tea with Activities of Daily Living among Elderly: A Latent Class Analysis.

The aim of this study was to explore whether drinking herbal tea and tea would positively benefit activities of daily living (ADL) in the elderly. We used data from the Chinese longitudinal healthy longevity survey (CLHLS) to explore the association. Drinking herbal tea and drinking tea were divided into three groups using latent class analysis (LCA): frequently, occasionally, and rarely. ADL disability was measured by the ADL score. Multivariate COX proportional hazards models with competing risks were used to explore the impact of drinking herbal tea and tea on ADL disability, statistically adjusted for a range of potential confounders. A total of 7441 participants (mean age 81.8 years) were included in this study. The proportions of frequently and occasionally drinking herbal tea were 12.0% and 25.7%, respectively. Additionally, 29.6% and 28.2% of participants reported drinking tea, respectively. Multivariate COX regression showed that compared with rarely drinking, frequently drinking herbal tea could effectively reduce the incidence of ADL disability (HR = 0.85, 95% CI = 0.77-0.93, p = 0.005), whereas tea drinking had a relatively weaker effect (HR = 0.92, 95% CI = 0.83-0.99, p = 0.040). Subgroup analysis found that frequently drinking herbal tea was more protective for males under 80 years old (HR = 0.74 and 0.79, respectively), while frequently drinking tea was somewhat protective for women (HR = 0.92). The results indicate that drinking herbal tea and tea may be associated with a lower incidence of ADL disability. However, the risks associated with using Chinese herb plants still deserve attention.

Prevalence and correlates of elder neglect in the community-dwelling Chinese population: New evidence from the CLHLS study.

Background: This study aimed to explore the prevalence of elder neglect (EN) and its associated factors among community-based Chinese older adults. Methods: We used data from the 2018 phase of a nationwide cross-sectional study, the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), which recruited 15,854 older adults to complete the study interviews that incorporated six dimensions of EN, namely, life neglect, social isolation, medical neglect, poor living situation, family neglect, and social neglect. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore factors associated with EN. Results: We included demographic factors, chronic diseases, cognitive function, and daily activity function in our comprehensive analysis and showed that they had different effects on the six EN dimensions. Different demographic factors such as gender, age, marriage, education, occupation, residence, and household income were included in the comprehensive analysis, and the results showed that these factors had different effects on the six dimensions of EN. Next, we found that older adults with chronic diseases are prone to life neglect, medical neglect, and residential environment neglect. Older adults with better cognitive abilities were less likely to be neglected, and a decline in daily activity capacity has been linked to EN in older adults. Conclusion: Future studies are needed to identify the health effects of these associated factors, develop prevention strategies for EN, and improve the quality of life of older adults living in communities.